Steps to Prevent Depression and Menopause

For many, but not all, women, perimenopause and menopause can be a very difficult time. Hormones levels are fluctuating, causing you to have hot flashes and night sweats. You aren't sleeping well. You are fatigued. Yet you are expected to function as always, taking care of your family, possibly working full-time. Many women in this age range are sandwiched in between their own children's needs and the needs of their elderly parents. All these things combined can take their toll and cause depression.

Plummeting Hormones

• When a woman's estrogen levels plummet, it is thought that this may trigger a change in her brain, which can be linked to depression, according to Menopauseexpert.co.uk.
  Some medical experts believe that hormone therapy--taking estrogen or estrogen and progestin, which is a synthetic version of progesterone--will help relieve minor mood symptoms. However, other experts, according to the Cleveland Clinic think that hormone therapy alone will not have a significant effect on warding off depression. Antidepressants need to be taken as well. A woman also might consider psychotherapy if her depression is severe.

Overwhelmed

• If a woman's sleep is interrupted night after night by night sweats, agitation, worry and/or pain, this can lead to depression as well as fatigue. If a woman has a hysterectomy and her ovaries are removed in the process, this can lead to the immediate onset of menopause, with even more severe symptoms than that experienced by women who naturally go through menopause. One of these symptoms includes a change in the woman's mood.

Women Are More Likely To Be Depressed

• Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to being targeted by depression, according to the Mayo Clinic. They are twice as likely as men to develop depression and depression-related disorders. Toss in the woman's culture, her life situation, which might be awful, and her unique biology, mix in some errant hormones and the symptoms--hot sweats, night flashes, sore breasts, aching joints--that those symptoms cause, along with being overworked and underpaid, and you've got the perfect recipe for a depressed female.

Symptoms

• The symptoms of depression can be widespread and varied. They include feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and being sad; being drained of energy; crying, inability to make decisions; inability to concentrate; loss of enjoyment; insomnia; sleeping too much; weight loss or gain; change in appetite; irritability; and suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. A depressed woman (or man) may experience headaches, stomachaches, persistent but unexplained aches and pains, sexual dysfunction or disinterest, and/or digestive problems.

What to Do?

• One option is to consider taking an antidepressant. Consult with your physician to determine which one is the best for you. Menopauseexpert.co.uk recommends that you limit your alcohol consumption; quit smoking; find a new hobby or creative outlet that will engage you; and exercise on a regular basis--join a yoga or Pilates class or take up swimming at the YMCA. Stay in contact with your friends and family and remember to eat well.
  Some women opt for herbal remedies to help calm their menopausal symptoms. St. John's wort reportedly works well in warding off depression, according to All4naturalhealth.com (see Resources). Other herbs beneficial to menopausal women include black cohosh, chaste tree, damiana, dandelion, dong quai, false unicorn root, ginko biloba, ginseng, licorice, life root, maca, raspberries, red clover, sage, saw palmetto, shepherd's pie, wild yam and true unicorn root.
  Consider undergoing hormone therapy (HT) but be aware of the dangers. There is an increased risk of getting breast cancer, blood clots and/or heart disease if you take HT. Some women have found that HT prevents depression and quells their other menopausal symptoms as well.

Get Help

• Deciding on the appropriate course of action may be difficult. Just as you must weigh the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy, you should give serious consideration to the use of antidepressants, according to Organizedwisdom.com (see Resources). If a woman experienced depression prior to menopause or if she has severe depression during menopause, antidepressants may be the best course of action. However, if a woman has become depressed due to her menopausal symptoms and has no prior history of depression, perhaps her doctor will recommend other techniques, such as those previously listed.
  If you recognize some, or maybe all, of these symptoms in yourself, speak to your doctor or a therapist and figure out the best way to address these health concerns.